Armaegis every part of that post is pure genius! Only thing that could have topped it off was mentioning the alternately solid and liquid cornstarch and water thing... but people don't try that, stick to the gelatin experiment.

Don't think you'd be able to wear gels for long periods in the summertime though would you?

Saw the Comply post earlier did you figure out if they are actually available now? Their site gets awkward at times. I'd be down with some of those , could even deal with the blue if they are worthy.

I actually thought about trying to coat a set of pleathers with the milk/gelatin to see if I could improve seal. It would only be a very brief temporary thing though, as I imagine the milk part of it would start to spoil after several hours (or would the gelatin stabalize it? I have no idea). But heck, it's a couple cents worth of material and you just peel it off at the end anyways. Or maybe if you could make a donut shaped mold, just solidify a piece of the milk jelly and slap that on between the pad and your face (for science!)

I couldn't wear the gel pads for very long. My face gets oily/sweaty very quickly, and I'm ocd about keeping my headphones clean so I just couldn't do it. I'd be taking them off every few minutes to wipe them clean.

Heh, cornstarch and water to make non-newtonian fluids. Fun stuff. I don't think you could make a pad out of it, although sound waves *do* cause funny things to happen... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zoTKXXNQIU

I would think that they would have a better seal than Shure pads, though probably heat buildup will make them sweaty at times or if using for long periods. No big deal though just take a break here and there.

Hutnicks were you asking me about David Clark pads? If so these air pillow versions are not worth using on much, and they were from a free headset.

Im waiting for B&H to get them in stock again. God knows when that's gonna happen though. Do you have the Sennheiser gel pads?!! . Do you think they would be easier to fit on a T50RP? I'd soo appreciate if you could post a few more side by side pics.

I remember trying to Beyer gel pads once (I think at the local Long & McQuades ages ago). It's a bit of an odd feeling, and slightly claustrophobic. I'm not entirely sure if the pad is a single material, or if it's a gel inside a soft rubbery/silicon shell. Either way: it seals very well, almost sticky feeling, definitely hotter/sweatier, and definitely improves isolation.

If you're curious how it feels, try this: mix a small batch of 1 tbsp gelatin and 1.5 tbsp milk in a small glass bowl, microwave for about 10-15 seconds, let it sit for an hour or two until it congeals. Slap that on your face. It's not sticky or slimy per se, but the texture will make it adhere. (For those curious, this is a home-made face mask for pore cleansing that actually works quite well. Spread a thin-ish layer on your face while still warm, wait 20 minutes for it to dry until you can't move your face and it feels like the mask will explode (trust me, you'll know), then peel it off)

Those are the rockwool-like foam discs often found in the Stax electrets aren't they? That stuff is basically like pirate's treasure in the vintage world. Good luck finding some.

Arrrggghhh, Matey. Maybe there's a substitute?

It looks like a cross between fiberglass and rock wool. There's a ~ 5 mm layer of yellow biscuit over the back of the drivers and another ~ 5 mm yellow biscuit over the inside of the grills. That's the sum total of the NAD damping except for the pads' 3 cm ear side opening.

Maybe a thin sandwich of rock wool and fiberglass...Or, a thin layer of rock wool on the back of the drivers, a thin layer of fiberglass over the inside of the grills (or vice versa), and a closed cell foam donut (with a 3 cm opening) under the ear side of the aftermarket pads to approximate the effect of stock pads...

The pads I've tried are Turtle Beach 9.5 cm round pads with cloth covering, Hifi Man leathers, and Hifi Man velours. The internal damping, at present, is nick n's 5mm thick x 10 cm foam disks over the inside of the grills and a 2 sq. cm piece of nick's Arctic Cotton...or is the Bamboo? I don't remember which is which. With this simple config, the Hifi Man velours work best at soaking up excess bass. The Turtle Beach comes in second. The Hifi Man leather pads are a Distant third place with Boomy Bass Bloat (BBB).

They Still don't sound as good as All Stock NAD RP-18 that, to me, beats the Fostex T50v1, especially in the treble range.

The currently modded NAD is mylar. I did not want to mess with the yellow biscuit in the all stock set te see if it's mylar or kapton. The all stock set has the Round cable splitter. I think I read on wikiphonia something about the cable splitter helps to identify which is which. Must go look :)

Edit: The all stock NAD has the round y-splitter so I suppose it's Kapton.

I got these awesome things in a still ongoing materials swap/trade marathon :)

from another generous member in here. I have been stashing them to use on the ultimate mod which is ongoing, and somehow keeps changing, so a side by side shot here.

Sennheisers are on the left and come with that foam insert seen below.

" Gel Ear pads for Series HME 100/ HME 300/ HME 400 "

You know I would almost think I was BS'ing you myself but it so happens yes i actually have them.

BMF let me look for some "Pirate treasure" biscuits, I might have a couple from a STAX SR-40. Will message if so. alternately I have a sneaking suspicion that this is the stuff people were calling deteriorated foam in the Audio Technica mods, I think in the ESW9 lineup or similar. Could be worth looking into

I got these awesome things in a still ongoing materials swap/trade marathon :)

from another generous member in here. I have been stashing them to use on the ultimate mod which is ongoing, and somehow keeps changing, so a side by side shot here.

Sennheisers are on the left and come with that foam insert seen below.

" Gel Ear pads for Series HME 100/ HME 300/ HME 400 "

You know I would almost think I was BS'ing you myself but it so happens yes i actually have them.

BMF let me look for some "Pirate treasure" biscuits, I might have a couple from a STAX SR-40. Will message if so. alternately I have a sneaking suspicion that this is the stuff people were calling deteriorated foam in the Audio Technica mods, I think in the ESW9 lineup or similar. Could be worth looking into

A good friend in Belarus knew I was looking for some vintage Russian headphones so he sent me a set of TDS-15. One side of the headband connector was cracked. The copper wires had become brittle and were corroded green. I was not able to repair the headband so, what to do? Last year, lee perry told me about the open back Takstar headphones from China. He said they might work as a foster fone so I bought a pair. Their sound was weird with strong bass, thin mids, and hot treble. I put them away until a couple of weeks ago.

Looks like a Huge open back but the opening is only 23 mm in diameter and 1/4 of that is covered by the badge.

Trim and Grill removed from cup. Each has 4 tabs that fit in The open backs are only 23.2 mm diameter.

cups' slots. They pop right out.

Maximum diameter from diagonal cup screw compartments. I used a Dremel diamond cutting wheel to cut out this 64 x 44 mm

section of the cup floor for much larger open backs.

Before and After enlarging the Takstar's open backs. After. The cup slots for the Trim Ring and Grill are not affected.